Copper Luck
by SyntheticProduct
Summary: Penny did have the worse luck. Her first mission on the Nostromo had dire consequences and a chance run in with an alien organism. Survivors is what people called them, and now these survivors were the first and last defense against a maybe invasion of a colony. Hicks/OC with Bishop/OC & Ripley/OC friendship. Mentioned Kane/OC ON HIATUS
1. Chapter One

**Copper Luck  
Chapter One**: The Beginning

* * *

Darkness enveloped her, covering her like a blanket and wrapping around her like a snake; she felt like she was suffocating in the bleakness.

"_Get in!" someone shouted from beyond the blackness, "get in and I'll handle the rest!" She couldn't bear the thought of leaving this person alone; did she know them? She felt like a weight was being pressed down on her chest, and she felt tears prickle at her eyes, "I can't! I can't leave you." It was just above a whisper, less than a shout and more than a mumble. _

"_You have to; we can't let this thing win. No matter the cost Penny, no matter the cost we can't let this thing get out of here."_

There were no more words, just darkness engulfing her like thick tendrils that slithered over her body and curled around each follicle of hair, each finger, and even each toe. Then, there was nothing. She couldn't even hear the sound of her own heartbeat, there was just … nothingness.

* * *

It was nothing more than a prick, a pain, a stinging burn, and she gasped. Her lungs exploded with oxygen and she gasped for more; she greedily breathed in through her mouth and nose before her eyes snapped open. Bile rose up in her throat and she nearly choked on it before someone pushed her up into a sitting position; the bile flowed down her chest, dribbling into her lap and someone kindly held her hair back as she did so.

Her breathing turned into shallow bits of breath, her chest heaved, and her vision clouded over even before it could totally clear.

"Breathe," She could hear someone shout before soothing circles onto her back, "You have to breathe!" Bile rose in her throat once again before she let it pour from her mouth, and her breathing hitched in her throat afterwards.

"Get the doctor!" Her limbs vibrated with an unknown energy and she felt herself choking, and it slowly was getting harder to breath, "she's going into shock, get the damn doctor!" Her chest swelled and she thought it was going to explode; that feeling got even worse, and she could see the images of Kane, his chest cavity open for the world to see, blood pooling out from him, and his lips moving to say something unrecognizable.

She moved her lips, she wanted to cry out for him, but nothing left her mouth but screams of pain as she started to seize.

"Move, move aside, hand me the epinephrine nurse," she couldn't feel anything besides the intense pain that surged through her torso, "hold her down," suddenly she couldn't move her arms or legs, but she moved up and down off the table, sweat dripping down her forehead and coating her hair, "dopamine!"

Everything seemed to stop, not completely and not totally, but it slowed down; she could hear her heart beating in her ears and the thumping in her chest slowing down, "get me her chart, and let her rest; we can't afford another shock episode like that one, her heart can't take it after such an extended hyper-sleep."

She tried to fight off the darkness, shaking her head back and forth muttering something even inaudible to herself, but there was an uncomfortable pin-prick against her arm and everything seemed blissful.

"Keep the sedatives on hand for the nurse on cycle tonight."

"Of course doctor."

* * *

_It was his smiling face that she woke to see, his hair slicked back and the crinkles that were pressed beside his eyes. _

"_Penelope, what were you dreaming about?" She snuggled up to his bare chest, her hand resting against his pectorals before leaning up to kiss his throat tenderly, "you know I hate it when you call me by my full name, especially in bed." He chuckled, his hands weaving into her hair and petting it with a familiar softness that she had grown to love, "Penny, what were you dreaming about?" _

"_I had a nightmare, something awful that I can't even speak about."_

"_That you can't or won't darling?" He soothed his fingers over her hair, moving it around each curled tendril before tugging on it softly, "I won't push it."_

_She hummed under her breath, kissing his Adam's apple once more before his grip tightened on her hair, making her head get thrown back. She could see the pain etched on Kane's face, it contorted and he let out a hellish scream._

"_Kane?" She questioned and watched in absolute horror as blood started to drip from his chest, a hole forming in his cavity before blood splattered on her skin, "Kane?" Pain emanated from her scalp as his hand continued to draw her head back. She screamed as blood continued to splatter on her, and it finally reached a crescendo as a small organism popped from his chest and let out a screech._

_Kane was no longer there, it was just the alien and her._

* * *

She sprang up in bed, sweat dripped down the side of her face even down the bridge of her nose. She gasped for air, clutching her chest as she tried to still her frantic heart.

"You alright there?" The voice startled her; she almost jumped out of her skin before she looked at the chair beside her bed, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

Her throat was scratchy and sore,"you didn't."

The man that was sitting there was wearing a formal suit jacket with a red tie, brown hair, and dull blue eyes. He looked happier to see her than she was to see him, "did Kane scare you then?" Her eyes narrowed and she scowled at the smiling man, "what?" She sneered, and it took every bit of her strength not to throw off the scratchy sheet and hit the man. His smile quickly disappeared and it was replaced with an uncomfortable frown, "I, uh, I'm sorry I heard you muttering his name earlier."

Had he been sitting here watching her sleep? Her eyes narrowed even more before she dismissed it, not wanting to talk about it anymore, "where am I?"

"The Gateway Station, we're currently orbiting Earth." She nodded her head, biting down on her lip, "there is no easy way to break this to you," he scratched the back of his head and peered into her eyes.

"Break what? The company picked us up – where's Ripley?" Panic consumed her very being as she made way to stand up, but the man quickly pushed her back down, "God damn it where is Ripley!"

"Calm down, she's in the next room. She still hasn't woke up." The panic simmered as she lay back down, breathing out a sigh of relief, "can I see her?" The man shook his head.

"It wouldn't be smart until we know if there was any internal damage, but for the time being I think introductions are in order, I'm Carter Burke; I work for the company and you're Penelope Lucia Jarvis, the Chief Medical Officer on the _Nostromo_. It's a pleasure." His out stretched hand was extended for several moments, but when she made no move to shake it he pulled back.

"Why am I here?" She motioned to the hospital room around her. Burke sighed, pulling his hand through his hair and then looked up at her.

"Here's the thing, we found you and Ripley floating around in deep space. You've both been in hyper-sleep for a well, a pretty long time if the ships indicators can be trusted."

"How long are we talking? A year, two?" Penny felt groggy as she asked; she placed the palm of her hand against her forehead before laying her head against the pillow.

"Fifty-seven."

"Fifty-seven what? Weeks? Months?"

"Years Penelope, you've both been in hyper-sleep for fifty-seven years."

The information hit her like a ton of bricks and her vision blurred as hot tears flowed from her eyes, "fifty-seven?" Her voice was hoarse and it cracked as she asked for confirmation. What about her sister? Her parents and her grandparents? "I've been gone for fifty-seven years." The information shook her and she felt her body react in same as it started to shake.

"Please calm down; we've tracked down your next of kin."

It was too much. Her body shook violently and she felt pressure build up in the back of her head, "shit," he muttered as he stood from his chair, hitting a button on the wall nearby. There was a sort of alarm that rang out which caused her body to rack even more than it was before; convulsions blasted through her body like waves in the ocean, "nurse!" He yelled and before long the doors swung open, and in came a scrambling flow of nurses in white dresses and doctors in white coats.

"Move, move to the side, now!" There wasn't much she could make out besides Burke being pushed out of the room and then a flood of white covering her vision, "get her vitals down! Blood pressure is spiking, get it under control."

Her eyes flickered back and she could hear the beeping of the machine that monitored her heart slowly lowering before falling into a dreamless sleep.

**Chapter Two will be up ASAP.**


	2. Chapter Two

**Copper Luck  
Chapter Two**: The Briefing

_Slight warning for some light-smut (nothing explicit) _

* * *

Sometimes Eleanor Ripley was a woman of few words, sometimes she was a woman of action; however, right now she was both. When she entered Penny's room, she immediately ran to her side to hold her hand. Jonesy weaved himself around and in between Ripley's legs as she sat down. Penny stared up at Ripley with a weak smile, tears forming in her ducts, "I was going to come visit you first you brat."

Ripley dryly laughed, coughing briefly afterwards before kissing Penny's hand lightly, "too bad you had some complications right?" Penny cackled, smiling ear to ear at Ripley at her light-hearted joke. Squeezing Ripley's hand, Penny spoke softly, "did that Burke guy tell you - ?"

"Yes, he did." Ripley wasn't one to cut people off normally, but Penny knew what was wrong. Amanda Ripley, Eleanor's daughter - if Penny was missing her sister and parents, there is no telling how much Ripley was missing her daughter. Penny pushed herself up and wrapped her arms around Ripley's neck, pulling her into a tight hug. Ripley froze only to lightly pat Penny's back and then wrapping her arms around Penny's shoulders as well, pulling her closer so Penny's face was snuggly pressed against Ripley's neck. Penny felt tears drip from her eyes as she squeezed Ripley, sobbing quietly to herself.

"Shh, shh, shh," Ripley hushed Penny, rubbing soft circles on her back as her voice cracked as well, "it's okay, we made it. We made it."

"But at what cost?" Penny answered back, voice crackling as more tears came forth. Penny sniffled at Ripley's silent response and only the sounds left were soft cries and meows.

* * *

Penny adjusted her shirt, her lower abdomen peeking from the top of her cargo pants and stuffed her feet into tennis shoes that the hospital had supplied for her. Burke was standing outside the door when Penny appeared before him, he spluttered for a moment, "you clean up well." Penny's hair was slightly dripping wet, the curls in her hair were spring loaded, and when she heard Burke's comment she felt her hair bristle. She didn't respond to him, but instead she huffed and stared up at him, "you said there was someone that I would want to meet?"  
Burke nodded, motioning to her to follow him which she did with some slight hesitation, "we've found your sister and her children." Penny stopped in her tracks, her heart began to hammer in her chest and she felt like she was going to throw up, "what?"

"Victoria Jarvis? She's sixty-nine right now with four children and six grandchildren; she was - well, speechless when we contacted her. We told her about your extended hyper-sleep and told her that, well, you'd look that same as you did fifty-seven years ago." Penny was nervous. Beyond nervous if she was going to be completely honest.  
It was quiet as she walked just behind Burke, she didn't even question where he was taking her. She passed by hundreds of doors before they stopped and Burke turned towards her, "Victoria is waiting in the next room with her kids, she didn't want to, well to overwhelm you." Penny nodded and stepped forth through the opened door only to have to close behind her as soon as she stepped through it.

Her steel grey eyes automatically went towards the centre of the room where an elderly woman sat in a wheel chair, surrounded by three younger men and one woman who looked just like Penny would've imagined Vicky looking at that age. Penny's knees were weak and she felt the air leave her chest, "Vicky?" She asked shakily and the elderly woman stood from her chair.

"Mom!" One of the men cried out, but that didn't stop her from walking forward towards Penny. Penny dropped to her knees in front of the woman immediately surrounded her fragile waist with her arms, "Vicky - Vicky I'm so sorry." Tears poured from her eyes as she buried her face into her sister's stomach, "Ay dios mio, Vicky I am so sorry baby girl, I promised I'd be home for you and - and I never got back."

Vicky dropped to her knees as well engulfing her older sister in a warm, but sad hug, "you look the same - they said you would, but my God - cara de monda, you're here now. You're here now." Penny looked up at her younger sister trying to smile through the tears, but found it nearly impossible. More tears flowed freely and soon Vicky joined her, kneeling on the ground as well. Vicky's thin arms wrapped around Penny, engulfing her in warmth and love something that Penny felt herself missing. There was a longing in her chest, an empty feeling, that was filled when Vicky took her into her arms.

There was an exchanging of sweet words and nothings, ones that Penny happily gave into, "where have you been?" Victoria's husky voice asked her. Penny only shook her head and looked up with teary eyes, "floating in space mi hermana dulce." Victoria gave a strained laugh before attempting to stand up from her kneeling position; she couldn't however, so her knee fell back onto the floor with a slam. Two of her sons rushed to their mother's side, "momma!" They helped her up and Penny could only watch as they walked her back to her wheelchair.

_It was early in the morning, nearly four if Penny could guess from the position of the moon hanging over skyscrapers. She laid in bed, stilled as a chill ran over her from the air conditioner that was running on MAX. A soft tapping on her door made Penny shift her arms from over her head and placing them on either side of her, pushing herself up from her mattress, "yes'm?" It wasn't quite a whisper, but it was loud enough for whoever was knocking to hear it. The door opened slowly and her twelve year old sister peaked around the frame of it._

_"¿Estás todavía durmiendo?" Vicky's small voice questioned as she pushed the door open more, "hermana?" Penny smiled to herself before patting the mattress, "ven en una pequeña, he sido durante unas horas." Vicky smiled widely and entered the small, white painted room. Vicky jumped onto the mattress, laughing and smiling as her small arms encircled Penny's neck, pulling her for a close hug, "voy a extrañarte."_

_"You'll have to start talking in en ingles soon mi hermana," Penny pushed back Victoria's curled brown hair from her forehead and placed a kiss just on the side of her temple, "they don't take kindly to people speaking in other languages beside English." Penny's accent wasn't thick, but it was there and Vicky on the other hand knew more Spanish than she did English, her accent was thicker because of that. Vicky shook her head, "I don't want you to go, can't you stay?" Penny only smiled sadly and kissed her sister's forehead once again, "I have to pequeña ave, we need the money and I need the experience."_

_"You just graduated! You had that big party and everything, can't you just wait?"_

_"No, no, I can't - I've got assigned and everything, it isn't dangerous and I'll be gone a few years at most. I'll call you every Friday, okay?"_

_Vicky shook her head again as tears formed in her eyes, "you won't be here, I don't want to be here with padre no more; he's mean." Penny rolled her eyes and stroked her sister's hair, "he isn't mean, he just cares a little too much, you know? He's still sad about mama, aren't you?" The little girl nodded her head this time and buried her face in her sister's shoulder, "I miss mama too Vicky, but isn't Angelina nice?"_

_"No, she's mean too." Penny sighed, stroking her sister's hair slowly and softly, humming in her throat gently._

_"She's new to this mothering stuff you know, she isn't used to it; she'll get better."_

_It was quiet, the only thing that could be heard was Vicky's soft sobbing and Penny slowly repeating to the girl, "don't worry I'll come back. It isn't forever, everything will be okay."_

"Can't you tell me any more than that?" Vicky asked expectingly, her brittle nails tapping on the metal table as she pensively stared at her older sister, "or is everything that happened restricted?" Penny could only nod her head, "look, I can tell you that everyone on board that ship except me and Ripley are dead; the ship exploded, we're under investigation, charged for damaging millions of dollars worth of equipment. Other than that, I can't tell you much else."

Vicky sighed as she sat back in her wheelchair as one of her sons rubbed her shoulder, "mama, don't overthink it, papa wouldn't like it too much if you had another stroke." The information hit Penny like a sack of bricks, "you've had a stroke?"

Vicky waved a hand, "pish-posh, that was two years ago and Nicholas tends to be the over-thinker, who was the one that had two heart attacks? Not me." Penny felt tears in her eyes, she felt angry, and most of all she felt sad; she had missed so much of her sister's life. Whether or not Vicky saw the tears, she placed her hand over Penny's and squeezed it, "I've missed so much," Penny quietly said after a prolonged period of time, "you got married and had kids, you even have grandkids for Pete's sake and I just...Me perdí todo." Closing her eyes, she pushed back the rush of tears threatening to fall.

"We have pictures, from everything. Padre told made me take so many pictures, to show you," Penny knew what she meant right away, they did the same thing with their mother when she passed away; they took pictures of all the important things, like birthdays and graduations, then showed them to their mother's grave. It was really like Penny had been dead for fifty-seven years, "I can bring them by, Elvis here would be happy to accompany me; wouldn't you hijo?" The tallest of the three boys nodded his head and smiled, "Love to mama, especially for Tia Penelope."

"Penny," Penny gasped out, "call me Aunty Penny." All of her nephews, and niece, nodded their heads and together spoke with happy grins, "of course Tia Penny."

* * *

Penny sat and talked for hours with her sister and her children, and when visiting time was over she even escorted them outside. One final hug and Vicky left in the shuttle with her kids, "I'll send the pictures, all of them." Were Vicky's final words before the shuttle departed and Penny could only stand there awestruck; that was her sister. Those were her kids. Her father and step-mother had both passed away twenty years ago, but her father still had hope that one day they'd find Penny; find her and bring her home.

The walk back to her room was silent, even the nurse that was escorting her wasn't sure what to say. When they finally arrived, both Burke and Ripley were waiting for her. Penny greeted Ripley with a smile and Burke with a nod, "is something wrong?" With her emotions on hyper-drive, Penny could easily tell something was off by the tension hanging in the air, "did something happen?"

"The meeting has been set for 0930 tomorrow morning, Ripley thought it would be a good idea to tell you together."

"Scheduled, so soon?" Penny sighed, rubbing her temples as they hummed with pain, "do they want to hear the gory details so soon? About how everyone was killed? _Murdered_ by an unknown organism, how we barely made it?" Ripley stepped forward, placing a hand on Penny's shoulder, but Penny stepped back and easily shook off Ripley's hand, "do they want to know about how that, that _thing_ burst from h-his chest and killed him? The blood was everywhere, I couldn't scrub hard enough to erase it all; it got in my eyes, on my hands - is that what they want to know _Mister Burke_?" Venom dripped off of every word that she said, and Burke flinched back when she said his name. Ripley grabbed Penny by the shoulders as she started to shake, "get ahold of yourself Jarvis."

"I have perfect control over my emotions Ripley!" Penny snapped, trying to escape Ripley's hold, but failing, "I ca-can't. I don't want to talk about it anymore, I don't want to think about it; they're all dead. Dead. All the company cares about is their fucking money." Ripley pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, stroking the hysterical woman's hair down as she whispered: "I know, I know."

It was quiet for a moment too long for Burke's liking as he coughed into his hand and smiled awkwardly, "Don't be late tomorrow girls, trust me when I say you don't want to be late." When he left the room, Penny felt like screaming and she did. Ripley held her close, quietly humming a long-lost song until Penny fell to her knees taking Ripley with her.

"You're okay, you're here with me. Not there. We're okay, it'll all be fine."

* * *

Burke met them exactly at 0900 outside of their rooms, his usual awkward smile still in place. Penny, as well as Ripley, were dressed in all white with white sneakers as well; everything about them screamed hospital. The trio walked down the hallway in perfect silence until they came to elevator, "everything you saw is in the report, correct?" The elevator doors shut behind them and Ripley was the first to respond, "yes, everything is in there - gory details and all." Burke looked over to Penny, the same question still hanging between them, "of course Burke, I wouldn't want to let down the Company; it would be a God awful shame."

The elevator dinged when they arrived at their location, "you've read my and Penny's deposition... it's complete and accurate." Penny walked shoulder to shoulder with Ripley as Burke headed them.

"Look, I believe you, but there are going to be some heavyweights in there. You got Feds, you got interstellar commerce commission, you got colonial administration, insurance company guys..."  
"We get the picture." Penny snapped as she scratched at her forearm, a sign of her nervousness; she even began to pick at her nails once she was finished.

Burke sighed, "just tell them what happened. The important thing is to stay cool and unemotional." Burke glanced over to Penny before they entered the room.

The thing was, what Burke forgot to mention was how hard that last thing was going to be. The first one to break was Ripley, surprisingly; however, as soon as the suit-jockeys starting questioning her, Penny snapped as well, "Do you people have earwax, or what? We have been here three hours. How many different ways do you want us to tell the same damn story?" Ripley slammed her hands down on the table, shaking at least three of the right members of the so-called 'board of inquiry'. As soon as Penny turned around, she is greeted with Parker's face grinning ear to ear like it was a damn mugshot; God, she missed that loon.

"Look at it from our perspective. You freely admit to detonating the engines of, and thereby destroying, an M-Class star-freighter. A rather expensive piece of hardware..." Van Leuwen started, a sort of frowning-smile on his thin lips; he knew what he was doing, he was winding both of them up. _What an ass_, Penny thought shortly before snorting quietly.

"Forty-two million in adjusted dollars. That's minus payload, of course." The insurance rep announced, his voice as dry as his skin.

"Oh that's right," Penny cried, "I forgot how much your money means to you, obviously more than the handful of dead men and women that died on that fucking M-class piece of shit. Madre de Dios, ayúdame ahora antes de llegar a uno de ellos." Van Leuwen narrowed his eyes at Penny before continuing: "the shuttle's flight recorder corroborates some elements of your account. That the Nostromo set down on LV-426, an unsurveyed planet, at that time. That repairs were made. That it resumed its course and was subsequently set for self-destruct. By you two. For reasons unknown."

"Look, we told you..." Ripley began, but was cut off by him once again, "it did not, however, contain any entries concerning the hostile life form you allegedly picked up."

Penny blanched, looking over the board member's faces as they all nodded their heads, "then somebody's gotten to it... doctored the damn recorder. Who had access to it?"

The Extrasolar Colonization Administration Representative just shakes his head at what Penny says,** "**Would you just listen to yourselves for one minute?" The older woman glared openly at the Spanish woman before darting her eyes over towards Ripley. Van Leuwen just sighs once again before rubbing his temples, "the analysis team which went over your shuttle centimeter by centimeter found no physical evidence of the creature you describe..."

Ripley slams her hands against the table once more just as Penny cries out in frustration, "that's because we blew it out the Goddamn airlock!" Ripley looked over at Penny and nodded, "like we stated previously."

The insurance man turned towards the ECA rep and asked her simply, "are there any species like this 'hostile organism' on LV-426?" The woman shook her head, "No. It's a rock. No indigenous life larger than a simple virus." Ripley grit her teeth in frustration, so audibly it made Penny cringe, "I told you, it wasn't indigenous. There was an alien spacecraft there," Ripley breathed out slowly, eyeing Penny, "a derelict ship. We homed on its beacon..."

"I was part of the team that went into the spacecraft, it wasn't human. The entire craft was black, venous almost - shit - stuff - look whatever it was, it was dripping off the walls like strings of saliva. There was a hatchery down below, I don't know how many eggs were down there, but it - it attached to Kane's helmet, ate through it and latched onto his face..." The image playing in Penny's head made her choke on tears.

"To be perfectly frank, we've surveyed over three hundred worlds and no one's ever reported a creature which, using your words...," The ECA Rep looked down at their reports, reading directly from it as she continued, "...'gestates in a living human host' and has 'concentrated molecular acid for blood.'" Ripley glanced at Burke, silent at the far end of the table. His expression is grim as Penny just stands there with her forehead placed in her hand. Her mouth hardens as a bit as the old nail-eating Ripley surfaces.

**"**Look, I can see where this is going. But I'm telling you those things exist. Back on that planetoid is an alien ship and on that ship are thousands of eggs. Thousands. Do you understand? I suggest you find it, using the flight recorder's data. Find it and deal with it - before one of your survey teams comes back with a little surprise..." As her voice began to become heated, Van Leuwen cut her off with a signal of his hand, "thank you, Officer Ripley. That will be..."

However, Ripley continued, "...because just one of those things managed to kill my entire crew, within twelve hours of hatching..." Van Leuwen stands quickly and seemingly out of patience.

**"**Thank you, that will be all." Ripley stared him down, glowering at the board before Penny barks out a quick and concise response, "That's not all, Goddamnit! If those things get back here, that will be all. Then you can just kiss it good-bye, Jack! Just kiss it goodbye." Sweat formed on Penny's forehead as she yelled out, and she couldn't help but turn as she shook with anger and frustration. As she turned, she was taken back as Kane's sweet, smiling face stared back at her. Tears leaked out of her eyes and she shook with less anger and more sadness.

* * *

Ripley kicked the wall down the hallway as Burke got something from the vending machine, "you had them eating out of your hands, kiddos." He grabbed the donuts that dropped from the machine and sipped his coffee that he bought a few seconds prior.

"They had their minds made up before we went in there," Ripley remarked as she leaned against the wall, pushing her hair back from her face as Penny sat down on a bench nearby, her head between her legs as she took some deep breaths, "they think we're head cases."

"Of course they do," Penny laughed dryly, "I would to if I wasn't there. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, it seems hard to believe."

"You are head cases," Burke replied cheerfully as if that would make them feel better, "have some donuts." He offered Ripley one, but she refused and glanced over at Penny, but she just shook her head.

_"You have to come see Kane," Dallas spoke carefully over the intercom that Penny's station had, "there's been a development." Penny felt her heart leap up into her throat as he spoke. The flashing red light on her station flashed a few more times before she pressed the green button next to it, "is he - is he..."_

_"Just come and see." Dallas's voice wasn't one of sadness, so Penny could only think of one thing: he was better. She pushed herself out of her chair and ran towards the doors, which opened automatically as she approached it. Down the hallway and down a ladder, she headed towards her main office; the infirmary. When she arrived she was greeted with the most splendid sight she had seen since she got on the damn spacecraft, Kane was awake and he was smiling at her._

_"Penny - " Kane wasn't able to finish his sentence as the young woman engulfed him in a tight embrace. Of course, the other crew members were in the room, but the most they did was snicker. Kane and hers relationship wasn't exactly unknown, in fact Dallas was the first one of find out about the two of them and soon the news spread like wildfire. _

_"I - we thought we lost you." Tears prickled at her eyes, and Dallas waved everyone out of the room, mumbling about giving the two 'alone time'. As soon as the door slid shut, Penny placed her lips over his. The kiss wasn't chaste, it was passionate and heated; he kisses were like water for a dying woman. Her lips left his and they trailed along his jawline and down his neck, "I thought I lost you." She mumbled against his neck, placing an innocent kiss against his Adam's apple. His fingers laced into her hair as he tugged on it gently, forcing her to meet him face to face._

_"I'm never lost when you're around Penny," he brought his lips to meet hers once more as her hands traveled over his chest, the only thing between his skin and her hands being a flimsy, white shirt, "I couldn't leave you, you complete me you know."_

_Her hand slammed his chest harshly, "don't be a dick, dios mio novio." He chuckled lightly before kissing her again and again, "te quiero, novia." Penny laughed at his horrible accent and nuzzled her nose against his. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before he kissed her again, this time his lips never leaving hers as he laid down on the medical table. Penny followed his lead, straddling his lap and placing her hands on his pants, untucking his shirt from them and pulling it up and over his head. Kane smiled as he did the same for her, his hands finding her breasts and squeezed them gently, his fingers tickling the sides of her breasts as he leaned up and kissed her once more, his mouth following the lines of freckles over her cheeks before flowing down her neck._

_"Te quiero."_

_He said it again and again, each time his lips connected with her skin, he said it again. _

_"I'll never leave you," silently he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out something; this time stopping the intimate contact to stare up at her, "if you'll have me, I'll never leave you again. I love you, will you have me?" Questioningly, Penny stared down at her sweetheart before looking towards his hand. A hand went over her mouth as she stared at the ring he always wore around his neck, a simple silver band that was his father's and his father's before him. _

_"A-are you asking me what I think you're asking me?"_

_Kane smiled sweetly, "will you marry me?"_

"Come on Penny," Ripley stirred Penny out of her daydream, "they've made a decision and called us back for our judgement." Ripley wore a light smile, but it felt more like she was forcing it. Penny only nodded and fiddled with the big, silver ring on her finger.

"Right, let's go see what those pendejos think; although, I think I have an idea already." Penny smiled sadly and stood from the bench and followed Ripley.

* * *

"It is the finding of this board of inquiry that Warrent Officer Ellen Ripley, NOC-14672. has acted with questionable judgment and is unfit to hold an ICC license as a commercial flight officer," Van Leuwen began as he stared down both of them women standing in front of the board, "we also find that Chief Medical Officer Penelope Jarvis, NOC-15103. has acted with questionable medical judgement and is unfit to hold any medical license," Penny felt herself grow faint, "Chief Medical Officer Jarvis is also unfit to hold an ICC license as a commercial flight officer and said licenses are hereby suspended indefinitely. No criminal charges will be filed at this time and you two will be released on own recognizance for a six month period of psychometric probation, to include monthly review by an ICC psychiatric tech... This meeting is adjured." Every single one of the board members stood from their seats and started to file out the door with smug smirks planted on their faces. Ripley shakes her head as Burke places a restricting arm on her shoulder, but she shrugs it off and chases Van Leuwen who is walking down the hallway. Penny runs after her, of course - what was she going to say?

**"**Why won't you check out LV-426?" Ripley pulls up alongside Van Leuwen, who doesn't even glance at Ripley nor does he glance at Penny who has stopped on the other side of him. Van Leuwen sneered and condescendingly replied: "because I don't have to. The people who live there checked it out years ago and they never reported and 'hostile organism' or alien ship. And by the way, they call it Acheron now."

"What are you talking about?" Penny gasped, her heart jumping up into her throat.

"What people?" Ripley insisted, as Van Leuwen stepped into an elevator with some others, but Ripley holds the door from closing, "terraformers...planet engineers. It's what we call a shake 'n' bake colony. They set up atmosphere processors to make the air breathable...big job. Takes decades. They've already been there over twenty years. Peacefully." Van Leuwen doesn't even glance up as the door tries to close, but Ripley slams it back as Penny steps forward, ignoring the other passengers on the elevator, "How many colonists?"

"Sixty, maybe seventy families."

"Sweet Jesus." Ripley gasps, her hand still clutching the door as Penny stares at Van Leuwen, "dios mio."

"Do you mind?" One of the passengers finally says as the narrow their eyes at the two women holding up the elevator. Silently, Ripley's hand slides off the door as all the strength seemingly leaves her body. Her and Penny stand there for what feels like hours, both of their heads swimming with unanswered questions and the imagery of all those families dead.

**I apologize if any Spanish seems off; I took Spanish for five years, but I'm not completely fluent in it.**


	3. Chapter Three

**Copper Luck  
Chapter Three**: Here we go Again

* * *

It had been a year and two months since Penny and Ripley were set loose from the Company. Although they weren't officially charged with anything, they were still stripped of their ranking and their licenses; the Company took some pity on them and set them up in a box-holed apartment complex that overlooked the sea from their windows. On another mercy, the Company placed the two woman next to each other in the complex. Every morning Ripley could hear Penny screaming from the dreams, just like Penny could hear Ripley crying out before she woke.

Every morning became one of normalcy for Penny. She didn't have the fanciest job, but it kept her mind off of the nightmares most of the time. She worked as a loader in the dry-docks, usually helping un-load and re-load spacecrafts that had just come home from a long journey, or were setting off on one. She handled the smaller equipment, never needing to use a heavy-lifter. She enjoyed the physical pain after a long day's work, it kept her mind from wandering towards the memories of the Nostromo.  
Today, was no different. Today she woke up at 0400 to her own screaming, the sweat pouring off her skin in sheets. She quickly pushed herself off of the sweat-pooled bed and shuffled into the cramped bathroom only a few feet away. Not even getting undressed, Penny just turned the shower onto cold and jumped into the water. The nausea from her stomach stopped almost completely as the water washed over her previously sweat-drenched form. She breathed in deeply before stripping off her pajamas which consisted of an old-teeshirt and a pair of underwear. She showered in the cool water before getting out and wrapping her bathrobe around her. A towel twisted up in her hair as she set it to dry, and she walked out into her small kitchenette.

She put on a pot of coffee and flipped on the stereo to an older radio station that played music from the twenty-first century. It was a slow song with a male singer, something along the lines of loving a girl until she was seventy - Penny wasn't actually listening, it was just background noise so her mind would stop racing so much. Although she knew the words and she was singing along quietly, it was mostly the beat that distracted her from thinking too much or too suddenly. Penny put a small pot of coffee on the stove and leaned against the counter, her knuckles turning a shade of white as she clutched it.

A soft meowing broke Penny from her revery and Penny briefly looked down to spot her brown and black spotted cat who was weaving between her legs, looking up at his owner with wide eyes, "yes, yes I'm going; I haven't forgotten about you either you know." Turning on her heel, Penny rummaged through the cabinets and pulled out a tin of cat food before opening it and setting it on the counter. Meowing again, the cat looked up at her before leaping up onto the counter. Kane, as she affectionately named the small cat, started eating quietly before the pot of coffee dinged.

"Kane, do you think work will go okay today? Martinez got his leg broken by a falling crate the other day. So much for seventy-nine days in the work place without any incidents." Kane softly meowed and continued to eat as Penny poured herself a cup of coffee, sipping on it as the bitter taste burnt the roof of her mouth and her tongue. The rotator blinds opened to reveal the shimmering ocean view and the pinks, oranges, and blues that filtered the sky; the water reflected the sky, making it seem like more of a painting than anything else.

Her psychologist told her it wasn't healthy to name her beloved cat after her dead fiancé, but Penny didn't understand in the first place. She loved the name, just as she loved him; it was her memorial for him, he would never leave her and she would never leave him. Kane meowed behind her, hissing slightly before the buzzing of the door could be heard. It was a familiar sound, one she heard every morning when Ripley made her way over. Her routine continued like normal.

But today it would be broken.

When she reached the door, she had already taken her hair towel out and opened the door wide enough for Ripley to slip inside, "hey Rip, I got a pot of coffee on - " Except it wasn't Ripley standing before her. Instinctively, her free arm wrapped around her waist and she held on to herself. Two men, one of them was Carter Burke and the other was a man she didn't know, stood in front of her door; Burke had his awkward smile painted on while the other man stood stoically without moving or smiling.

"Good morning Burke, and ... friend, what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Good morning Jarvis, this is my good friend Lieutenant Gorman of the Colonial Marines Corps, may we come in? We have something we want to speak to you about." Penny closed the door so the Lieutenant's prying eyes couldn't see past the door, "have you talked to Ripley?"

"We... tried."

"Did you get a door in your face?" Penny playfully joked, leaning against the doorframe to fill it up even more. Kane meowed loudly in the background, probably signaling that he was done with his breakfast; that made one of them at the very least. Burke just smiled and nodded, scratching the back of his head like he usually did when he was nervous; he was an open book when it came to his emotions. She opened the door and started walking in, "come in and make yourselves at home. I apologize for the mess, wasn't expecting visitors."

Burke, who was the last one in, closed the door behind him before sitting down on one of the chairs that Penny pulled out for the two men. The Lieutenant stood, his arms behind his back and looked around her shoe-boxed sized apartment. There wasn't much, all white and grey and it wasn't exactly clean either. Drying laundry hung up on a wire that connected from one side of the room to the other, piles of books and magazines slid down the book shelves in a disorganized mess, and the dishes piled up in the sink were sudsy and wet. "Coffee?" She offered quietly.

"Three sugars please." Gorman said loudly, scaring Kane from his sunning spot on the window sill.

"This isn't a coffee house, you get what you get and you can't throw a fit - two black coffees." She presented them two mugs that were mismatched and one of them was chipped; she gave that one to the Lieutenant. She hopped onto the counter and smiled behind her coffee mug as she sipped the cooling beverage, "now what's this all about?"

"We've lost contact with the colony on Acheron."

Penny choked on her coffee, quite literally. Her face flushed from the lack of air and embarrassment as she pounded her chest to dislodge the liquid, "what?" Her voice was hoarse.

"LV-426, Acheron, we've lost contact with them." Her face lost all color as she grasped the necklace around her neck, the tips of her fingers playing with the silver ring. She felt nauseated to say the very least, "is it - is it them?"

"We have no idea. The radio has been all but static, no one is replying."

"And what has this got to do with me or Ripley - no, no, no." Penny dropped down from the counter, coming to her full height of 5'4" as she stood in front of the two men, "I'm not going back. Never am I going back there, I can't - you don't understand. The screaming and the blood, that thing killed everyone on that ship - killed without a second thought. Absolutely not. Dios me protege." She kissed the ring and looked out the window.

"Look, Penny - those seventy families - they'll all die if we don't help... if you don't. We need your expertise on this, and Ripley's."

"She said no didn't she?"

Burke was quiet as was the Lieutenant before Burke finally gathered the courage to speak, "she did, but we need both of you."

"You want me to convince her don't you?"

"We want to convince you; that would also be a happy outcome, ma'am." Lieutenant Gorman said quietly. Penny turned around and stared at the two of them, "we'll kill them?"

"Of course, every single one of them."

"You won't take them back to - to study them will you?"

"Seek and destroy, rescue and seek answers are our only missions ma'am." Gorman replied, sipping his coffee before making a bitter face as the coffee slipped down his throat. Penny leaned against the counter once again, "and we'll leave right after? I don't have to stick around."

"No ma'am."

After a long silence, Penny relented, "I can't."

"The families Penny, the children - they'll die."

"They might already all be dead and we could be walking into a fucking trap!" Penny slammed her coffee mug down on the counter, the backsplash burning her hand, "I don't want to be there when another team dies because of those fucking aliens."

"With all due respect ma'am, me and my team are all highly trained in combat and otherwise." Penny calmed herself down before taking a deep breath, "can you kill something that is a living nightmare?"

"We can certainly try ma'am."

"This thing can't be killed by ordinary means Lieutenant, we had to stuff it out an airlock to kill it." The image was burned into her head, the last image she saw before entering her long slumber of fifty-seven years. She could still hear the thing's shrieking as all the air in the cabin was sucked out, watched as its black silhouette was launched into space; that was the last thing she saw, the last thing she heard, and she could still hear it in her nightmares. Penny placed a hand against her temple in an attempt to soothe her on-coming headache. It felt like little electrical wires were sounding off inside of her head, the feeling was nauseating at best, "we have the best armor, the best weapons, and the best people for the job ma'am. We're a team, we can kill it."

Penny sipped her coffee again, her hand burning from the hot liquid spilt on it earlier, "the crew - my crew - we were a goddamned team and it killed almost every single one of us. That was just one; one of those damned things took out a handful of us without so much as a scratch on it."

The Lieutenant seemed taken back by her statement, "I didn't mean to say that your crew wasn't a team, but you also didn't have the weapons we have now. I can promise you we can kill it."

"You keep saying _it_, but the fact of the matter is that the hatchery I saw had thousands of those things stowed away in fleshy egg-sacks. What's not to say that there aren't thousands of those assholes down on that colony just waiting for another ship to land to make more of them? What if - "

"We can't go off of hypotheticals ma'am, the possibilities would be endless then. What if there are no signs of alien life-forms? What if it's just a radio error? What if they're all dead already? If we lived off of hypotheticals ma'am, we'd get nothing done." Lieutenant Gorman straightened his back, sweat forming on his forehead and creating a sheen of gloss on his skin. Burke was sweating like a madman by now, dapping the liquid away with a hankie that he had pulled from his pocket just moments ago. Penny set down her coffee mug, the liquid inside of the cup already cool, but the stinging in her hand hadn't changed much.

"But what if Lieutenant, think about it; are you willing to risk your team's lives over it?"

"If we can save even one civilian? I'd stake my life on it ma'am."

Penny mulled over what he said, the statement ringing in her head like a bad replaying tape. The guilt coiled in her throat like a snake waiting to strike and the sadness oozed down her throat, pitting into her stomach like an illness. As her stomach churned and burned with the thought of at least one person being alive, saving that one person; could she stand by and let that one person die? What if Kane was stuck there? Could she let him die?

Bile threatened to raise into her throat, but she forced it back down with a hard swallow. The images of blood and acid were so new in her mind, the images of her friend's corpses - of Kane's lifeless body. She felt faint and tingled with a sense of renewed purpose all over the back of her skull, like spiders crawling from her neck.

Another quiet moment later, Penny felt Kane licking at her burnt hand softly, meowing as he did so; she knew what she had to do now. Even with the feeling of bile situating in the back of her throat, she answered his question.

"I'll go."

Burke stood from his chair, a big grin plastering his face, "you will?"

"Don't hug me," Penny stopped Burke a foot away with a simple hand to the chest, "I'll go, but no hugging." The intimate closeness of another was out of the question. Her fingers unconsciously tugged on the necklace around her throat, her fingers playing with the ring tied with care around the woven strand.

"That's great news! Can you convince - "

"I can try," Penny spit out, crossing her arms over her chest before turning her head away, "now get out before I throw you out." Somehow, she knew she hadn't meant that, but she didn't want them to be here anymore; she felt like she was going to be sick.

"Wait!" Burke dug something out of his pocket, his calling card it would seem, "we leave in a weeks time, Tuesday morning 0500 at loading dock B; convince Ripley by then, please."

Penny sighed, "just go." She could feel it bubbling inside of her abdomen.

And they did. Lieutenant Gorman saluted her, "it'll be a pleasure working with you ma'am." Burke called after Gorman and the Lieutenant walked calmly after him. Burke seemed almost giddy, like there was a skip in his step. Penny didn't watch for an extended period of time, just waited until they rounded the corner and hurried herself back inside. The closest thing she could make it to was her sink, and she felt the bile rise up from her throat and empty into the drain. Minutes of tears and dry-heaving later, Penny collapsed onto her knees as she shook from the tip of her head to the point of her toes. What has she said yes to? She could barely sleep a few hours without waking up screaming because she pictured that things face in front of hers. Deep in the back of her mind, she could hear the faint words _fight it_ repeating over and over again. While Penny wouldn't openly admit it, sometimes she could hear Kane's voice in the depths of her mind, but today - the one saying those words was herself. Steadily, she stood up from her place on the floor and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She stared down into the sink before steading her resolve, she needed to do this. No - wanted to do this.

"I'll be back in a few moments Kane, be a good boy and don't drink my cold coffee; I'm sure I'll need it after this." Penny shut the door behind her as she went into the hallway before knocking on Ripley's door, breathing in deeply through her nose and out through her mouth. This was going to be one for the textbooks it would seem.

Ripley opened the door, only a crack, and smiled softly when she saw it was Penny, "come in, I thought you were someone else." Ripley opened the door wider and led Penny inside of it.

"Burke and his lovely friend Lieutenant Gorman?" Once inside, Penny saw that her apartment was even messier than her own. Jonesy was weaving his way around the mess as if he was born in it, and he settled on a nice mound of dry clothes.

"Did they talk to you too? What a bunch of baboons, monkey-ass no good piece of shits." Penny hardly heard Ripley swear, so when she did she let out a small gasp of shock. Ripley just rolled her eyes and smiled, "well they are; what did you say to them?" This was it. This was the moment of truth. Penny could feel the headache pounding in her head, or rather her heartbeat.

"I said yes." Penny shut her eyes for a moment, only for moment as if that would shield her from Ripley's gaze.

Ripley dropped her coffee mug into the sink, the sound was shattering dishes filled the small apartment, "you - what?" When Ripley turned around, Penny saw Ripley's wide eyed expression even before she heard her speak. Her cheeks were red and flushed, "why? Why did you say that?" Ripley slammed her hand down on the counter and stared at Penny with a hardened expression.

"You're going to die there!"

"If I can save one person - one damned person from the same fate that our friends suffered .. it will be worth it."

"You can't bring him back, as hard as you try you can't." Ripley said as she stared down Penny with heated eyes, "Kane is dead. You loved him, he died, and he's gone."

"Don't bring him into this!" Penny shouted, her eyes narrowing and her eyebrows furrowed, "don't you dare. He has nothing to do with this, I want to help people that might end up like Kane - we can't just leave them there to die!"

"Can and will." Ripley turned away from Penny. Penny put her hand on Ripley's shoulder, who just shrugged it off, "go, die then; fine."

"You don't mean that Rip, I know you don't. You're my friend." Ripley turned and looked at Penny with saddened eyes, "I am and you're mine. I can't go back, we can't go back."

"You might not be able to, but I have to. For anyone that might be alive. For Kane."

Penny turned to leave, her hand grasping the doorframe as she stopped for a moment to talk to Ripley again, "you should do it for Dallas."

Then Penny left.

* * *

Penny arrived home around 2234 after a quick stop at the local, grubby bar whose alcohol tasted more like cat piss and watered down sewage than actual beer. Penny was rather tipsy as she entered her apartment, taking her time to fit the key into the hole. Kane greeted her with an angry meow, an almost hiss.

"I know, I know - I missed feeding time, here let me get it." She waved Kane off of the counter and pushed herself up onto to retrieve one of the last cat tins she had, "here you overgrown fatty." She peeled back the metal lid and set it down on the counter, watching as Kane sniffed it cautiously before chowing down on it. She smiled and pet him lovingly, just behind his ears which happened to be his favorite spot, "you're a spoiled kitty-cat really. I don't know what I'm going to do with you when you get too fat to move around."

Kane just meowed loudly and pawed Penny's hand away from its head. Penny stopped herself from pouting, "pez gordo, what am I doing to do with you?" She pat the top of Kane's head and left him to eat as she changed into a large teeshirt and turned off the lights. When he was done eating, he'd come snuggle up to her in bed like he had always done before.

As Penny closed her eyes, the door buzzed loudly and three times in a row, "¿Quién diablos es eso?" Pushing herself up into the sitting position, she yelled from her bed: "who is it?"

It was quiet for too long and Penny assumed it had been a prank, but no sooner than she laid down was there a quiet response of: "It's Ripley." Her eyes burst open as her mind went reeling from the day's events and suddenly she found the sick feeling to be back at the pit of her stomach, "look I know you probably don't want to speak with me, but just listen if anything else."

So Penny did as she was told, she laid in bed with her eyes wide open as Ripley spoke, "what I said earlier today was wrong, so very wrong and I know that. I should understand that missing someone you love, it's hard, but you're strong probably even stronger than me," Ripley laughed dryly from the other side of the door, "what you said today, about saving people, about doing this for someone other than myself - it got me thinking. I want to do this. For me. For you. For Dallas, Parker, Brett, Lambert, and Kane. I want to do this for everyone on that damned colony, even if they're dead - I want revenge."

Penny stood up from her bed, shuffling as quietly as possible to the door and leaning against it. She waited for Ripley to continue, "We need to do this. You and me, we're a team remember? Always ganging up on Brett and Parker, me and you... we're a team and we need to stick this out to the bitter end." Penny nodded her head slowly, smiling wide as she opened the door, almost falling onto Ripley.

"So does this mean you're going?"

Ripley could only smile and hug Penny close, "if you're going, I'm going."

* * *

Penny vaguely heard Ripley talking to Burke as she poured a cup of coffee, a celebratory drink as Ripley said. As Ripley and Penny walked next door to Ripley's apartment, the older woman jokingly told the younger one that she could smell the beer wafting off of her in waves. So, instead of a bottle of wine that Ripley had ready, she told Penny no more and made a pot of coffee instead. Penny audibly groaned as she sipped the coffee, she missed the taste of that sewage beer now.

"He says he'll have it all planned out in the morning and send me the details, which he said he'd send to you too," Ripley snatched the cup of steaming coffee that Penny had poured for her friend, "he was checking you out, by the way." Penny made a face and Ripley laughed quietly before blowing on her coffee to cool it.

"He was not, and never say that again. Even if it's true, that's not something I want to hear." Penny groaned once again as she made a mental note to start wearing pants to bed. Her lean, tanned legs were peeking out from underneath the large teeshirt and she was sure that's what he was looking at. Ripley snorted as she sipped the coffee, "he's been checking you out every time you are in the room for the last year; you haven't noticed?"

Penny complimented Ripley's snort with her own, "tried not to more like it. Burke is not someone I want checking me out. Besides, he checks you out too." Ripley couldn't bite back her laughter, "whatever, I highly doubt that." Penny only shrugged as she leaned against the counter, nursing her cup of coffee, "he checks out anything with tits and legs; let's be honest." Ripley only smiled that time, but Penny could see the outlines of her shoulders shaking with repressed laughter.  
They were quiet for a while, nothing but the soft snores of Jonesy and the sipping of their coffee. Although Penny didn't appreciate silence, she couldn't help but bask in the silence between the two of them. Ripley was the epitome of comfort, she was like home and Penny couldn't help but bask in the feeling; not a lot of things felt like home anymore.

"Did he give the specifics of what to pack exactly?" Penny questioned, her tongue gliding over her teeth to clean them. Ripley shrugged her shoulders, "mentioned something about one bag of personal belongings per person; we aren't going on a vacation you know." Penny yawned as she scratched the back of her head, "I know, I was just wondering if I could bring some of the pictures my sister gave me and all. One bag will do."

"What are we going to do with Jonesy and Kane?" Another moment of silence before Penny groaned, her hand now combing over her face, "No pensé en eso, mierda; is there someone we can hire to come over and feed them?"

"Might be cheaper if we ask the company to take care of it."

"Yeah, knowing them they'd kill them as soon as we leave for the colony." Penny chugged the rest of the coffee, slamming the cup down on the counter and smiling lazily.  
"I'll contact someone tomorrow, you should get some sleep; I know you didn't get any last night with all the noise you were making."

"Could say the same to you, you know?" Penny slapped a hand on Ripley's shoulder before pulling her in for a small hug, "I'm glad you agreed to go, there's no one I'd rather be there with than you." Ripley pat Penny's back softly, "me too."  
Both of the women weren't so good at the whole comforting thing, but they tried their best which was good enough for them. Penny pulled back first as she sensed Ripley's uneasiness, "I'll see you in the morning then?"

"Yeah. Good night."

"Night Rip, night Jonesy." Penny pat the cat's head before she exited the apartment.

* * *

The following Tuesday, at a quarter to four, both Penny and Ripley showed up to docking area B and were escorted to a large ship. It was very impressive, even Penny stopped to stare in fascination and admiration; humans surely had come a long way with mechanical and technological developments, it was almost like the old sci-fi movies that Penny used to watch as a little girl.

"Come on Jarvis before you get left behind!" Ripley called out behind her, her bag currently heaved over one shoulder as she beckoned the younger girl with her free hand, "wouldn't want that now would we?" Penny rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath, "si madre."

"I heard that!" Ripley called back in a sing-song fashion. Penny knew that Ripley was nervous, she could easily tell by the tone of her voice; Ripley never joked around in these situations until she got nervous. Penny just shook her head and ran after Ripley. When they boarded the ship, they were greeted to a new face and an old one. Carter Burke stood next to a brown haired man with some sort of scar, or at least what Penny _thought_ was a scar, along his face. Burke clasped his hand to Ripley's and then to Penny's, shaking it vigorously before stopping to introduce them, "Eleanor Ripley and Penelope Jarvis, this is Bishop; he'll be part of our crew and helping us enter cryostasis, he's kind of a pro at this." Of course Burke cracked a joke as well as pointing back at Bishop.

The man behind Burke simply nodded his head and had the faintest trace of a smile on his face, "it's a pleasure to finally meet the two of you. If you follow me, we can get you prepped for your stasis." Ripley simply nodded while Penny smiled, "liderar el camino." She folded her hands behind her head as her bag sagged under the its own weight.

"Por aquí." Bishop responded, the faint smile still on display. Penny pushed back the excitement she felt at someone else speaking Spanish; it had been a long time since she heard someone speaking it so fluently and without a terrible accent. She had a feeling she'd be fast friends with this man. Burke made quiet conversation with Ripley, one that Penny had no desire to be involved in. It was something about the Nostromo, which Penny didn't want on her mind. So instead, she walked wordlessly beside Bishop. When he didn't talk, Bishop seemed stiff in his movements especially when Penny strolled up beside him. She could see his eyes peering at her from the corner of her eyes and she just smiled to herself, "something interesting, Bishop?"

He shook his head, "nothing in particular. Please note that all jewelry should be taken off before stasis, especially metal. There have been documented instances where the metal expands and explodes." Penny touched her necklace and nodded, smiling sadly to herself as she toyed with it, "of course, you're the expert here and everything."  
After a series of long hallways after another, Bishop led the troop into a large locker-room. Behind the lockers were the pods, most of them already filled with people.

"Please put all your belongings into your specialized lockers and strip down to your underwear." Ripley and Penny knew what to do, even going as far as to begin stripping before Bishop had stopped talking. As soon as Penny's shirt went up and over her head, she saw Burke whip around and she could even see the tips of his ears turning red. She only smiled smugly before shimming off her cargo pants and untying her shoes, her socks coming off soon afterwards. Penny stood in front of her locker in nothing but a simple undershirt, cut off so you could clearly see her bellybutton, and a pair of boy shorts that fully covered her wide hips and round backside. Ripley stood next to her in similar wear, although her undershirt was a bit longer and her underwear was considered a 'bikini' cover.

Burke was still undressing as Bishop started talking again, "when you come out of stasis, please be aware that we have both steam showers and water showers, also towels. We will supply water and crackers for your empty stomachs, and of course supper will be served once everyone is dressed and ready." Ripley and Penny nodded, and the two women could vaguely hear Burke hum in agreement, "please expose your necks for your shots." Penny leaned again, exposing the side of her neck as Bishop pressed the needle into it; she counted to five and released the breath she had been holding, a trick she told many of her old clients to do when they were scared of the sharp object. Ripley did the same and when it was Burke's turn, the two could audibly hear him whimper in pain.

"Follow me to your pods." Bishop now turned on his heel and lead the way once again. Ripley's pod was at the forefront of the pods, so he helped her get inside first. Penny waved to Ripley and wished her a good sleep, which Penny got in return from her friend. Ripley breathed deeply and exhaled as the pod's door closed on top of her. With a few simple clicks of his fingers, Bishop had the stasis starting; a few minutes passed and no one spoke. They simply watched as Ripley entered a deep sleep.

"Next will be Jarvis, Penelope," Penny followed the man down five pods and Penny noted that she was stuck between two intimidating looking men, "in your medical history, it was stated that you are prone to seizures; have you ever experienced them after stasis?"

"Once, after my first time in it." Penny remembered when she awoke for the first time on the Nostromo, a fit ran through her and that was the first big scare on the damn ship.

"None after?"

"Not after stasis. I'm under the impression I suffered a few after waking for the first time in fifty-seven years, do you think it'll be an issue?" Bishop shook his head as his fingers expertly glided over the small pad on the pod, "I'll be adjusting the internal pressure to modified specifications for someone that suffers from seizures. You'll become light-headed for the first minute, but you'll feel better when you fall into sleep."

Penny smiled, "thank you Bishop, that's very thoughtful of you."

"Just doing what I'm suppose to do in this situation, Penelope."

"Call me Penny, please."

Bishop's fingers froze on the pad, "of course. Please step into the pod .. Penny." Penny smiled and calmly entered the pod even though her heart was pounding.

"See you later!" Burke snickered. Penny only sent him a forced smile and took a deep breath as the pod door closed. She breathed in deeply and let the breath out in a short burst. Bishop was right, the light headedness was coming on fast and the pressure caused her ears to pop. She continued to breath deeply and calmly as her muscles fell lax around her. Her eyes grew heavy even though they were already closed, and soon enough she felt her mind drawing to a blank. Darkness greeted her like an old friend, embraced her as she fell heavily into a dreamless slumber.


End file.
